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Top Colorado GOP donors urge congressmen to support immigration reform

A judge administers the Oath of Allegiance ceremony to sixty area residents, representing 25 countries, during a naturalization ceremony at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services building in Centennial on July, 2, 2012. (Denver Post file photo)

WASHINGTON — A who's who of top Republican donors in Colorado sent a letter Tuesday beseeching Colorado's GOP delegation to embrace comprehensive immigration reform and provide a path to legal status for the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States.

The seven donors have collectively contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to both the Republican party and to Colorado's four House Republicans' re-election efforts in the past two years.

"Doing nothing is de facto amnesty," the letter said. "We need to take control of whom we let in our country and we need to make sure everybody plays by the same rules."

Among those who signed the letter were NexGen Resources CEO Charlie McNeil, who between 2011 and 2013 contributed $107,000 to various candidates and the party, M.D.C. Holdings CEO Larry Mizel, who contributed $212,000 between 2011 and 2013, and Marilyn Ware, former ambassador to Finland and former chair of American Water Works, who donated $167,000 between 2011 and 2013 to Republican candidates and the party.

"It's something I've believed in for a very long time. We definitely are motivated to get the message to the congressional delegation," said Laramie Energy II CEO Bruce Payne, who has donated $26,000 from 2011 to 2013 to Republicans and the party. "I just believe these are the exact kind of citizens we want here. They came here at extreme risk to themselves to improve their lives, and that's the American dream."

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The letter says "doing nothing" is "not the path for the Republican party."

"Immigrants are often entrepreneurial, family-minded and guided by faith. These are Republican values," the letter says. "These are Colorado values."

The donor letter does not mention the Senate immigration bill that passed with a bipartisan majority in June and gives a 13-year path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States.

That measure faces no real future in the GOP-controlled House, and leaders say they may take a piecemeal approach to solving the problem.

Colorado's four Republicans have varying — and even changing — beliefs on immigration reform.

Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Aurora, told a group of immigrant rights advocates gathered at a Catholic church Sunday he supported an earned pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented people.

Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, said he supports proposals that strengthen border security and enforcement first. He said he supports a strong guest worker program in areas such as agriculture and construction.

"After that — and only after that — can we begin to look at next steps for those who are here without documentation," Gardner said.

Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, was mum Tuesday about whether he believes in a pathway to legal status for anyone.

"The House is currently in the process of putting forward an immigration reform plan of its own, and as we progress, I believe both parties need to work together with the goal of achieving a solution," he said.

Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs, did not respond to the letter Tuesday.

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